


In Between The Lines

by deathkiss_mp4



Category: Naruto
Genre: Akatsuki Hatake Kakashi, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anbu Hatake Kakashi, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Hatake Kakashi-centric, Konohagakure | Hidden Leaf Village, M/M, Multiple chapters, Obito has some morals, Slow Burn, Work In Progress, basically obito reaches out to anbu kakashi, eventually, questionable sanity, romance really isn’t the main focus. at least at first
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:28:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25808119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deathkiss_mp4/pseuds/deathkiss_mp4
Summary: AU in which Obito’s eye is more influential than anyone had ever assumed. Obito notices. Somehow Kakashi suffers the repercussions.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi & Uchiha Obito, Hatake Kakashi/Uchiha Obito
Comments: 21
Kudos: 121





	1. Chapter 1

Something has been nagging at Kakashi lately. It makes him feel off balance in a way he’s never felt before. He knows things but can’t seem to understand why or when or how.

His brain is pulling itself apart. Kakashi is a shinobi. Listening to his instincts has pulled him past death more times than he can count, but what’s happening to him makes absolutely no sense. Visions of places he has never been to and people he has never met constantly flash behind his eyes. Maybe his work in anbu is finally catching up to him, he thinks.

Assassination is something he’s good at. It’s familiar. The scent of blood, the burst of chakra coursing through him as he makes contact with the target. The callouses brought about by one-too-many chidori performances that engulf his hands serve as a reminder. He‘s not sure if he will ever escape this darkness. 

There are times he wishes he could be different, that he wasn’t shrouded in shadows. Those thoughts are fleeting, however. Kakashi is a creature of routine and he isn’t quite sure of his purpose outside his duty as a shinobi. He pushes on.

Kakashi is a jounin and anbu, he should be able to adapt. To halt the nervous sensation of imminent death. But these eerie little pinpricks clamp onto him and stick with him. They come and go of their own accord and it’s been driving him crazy. The tether keeping him functioning is fraying and he’s not quite sure what will happen when it snaps. His attempts at sleep prove futile. 

-

It’s late in the evening and Kakashi has been awake for so long he’s lost track. A particularly nasty solo mission leads him to stop in the Land of Hot Water. Normally, heat serves as a comforting presence to Kakashi but he feels suffocated when that pain swamps all his senses. The frustration that leaks off of him mixes with the humidity and turns the air sour. Nothing feels natural anymore. Nothing makes sense. It’s almost like he has two sets of memories overlapping each other and playing at once. 

Kakashi has never been to this town before. He knows this. But somehow, for some unknown reason, he can name every worker at the Inn. He knows where the turns in the street would lead him, where the tiny crack in the town’s fountain came from, where the best place to eat is. It lights his mind on fire and everything screams at him to leave and just get away because he just can’t understand.

But Kakashi is still an anbu. He attempts his best mind block, and reverts to autopilot because it’s familiar and something he knows. His heart begins to calm slightly and with a small twitch he purchases a room. He vows to leave as early as possible. 

-

The sun has barely begun to rise when Kakashi’s nerves light up again. He jolts up, taking note of his supplies and realizes everything on him seems the same as when he went to sleep. Except one thing is out of place.

The person sitting across from him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Obito begins to wonder.

Obito’s mind has felt heavy recently. He has long since stopped thinking of Konoha as home—Minato’s narrowed, distrusting eyes flash in his mind—or the possibilities of returning. No, Obito doesn’t think about whether what he is doing is right or wrong, he instead thinks of ways to truly achieve his goal.

Under Minato, he learned what having comrades meant. He learned how to trust, learned basic war etiquette and how to fight with a distinct style that screamed textbook Konoha. Under Madara, though, he learned how to survive. Madara beat out the foolish optimism he clung to, the foolish dream of becoming Hokage, and guided him in the original way of the shinobi. Obito listens more than ever, notes how people move and how they respond to him in ways his younger self would have deemed insignificant. Because of Madara, he feels more like a shinobi than he ever did in Konoha. All of the constant stumbling over himself, the desperate chase for approval from all those around him has stopped. He can finally move and feel confident that his jutsu won’t fall apart on him.

His focus may be narrow and his goals lofty, nobody is more aware of these factors than him, but he throws himself into them. Obito’s determination and stubbornness in his own beliefs has always been one of his strengths. But sometimes, he allows himself the moment to wonder. 

The overcast skies in Ame are nothing like his days spent in Kohona or even Iwa. The air here is too wet and filled with the distress of a war-torn populace just beginning to get back up on its feet. Truly nothing like Konoha—a powerful village filled with strong nationalism taught from childhood and embedded with prideful clan after clan after clan. In these moments, perched atop towering buildings that spend their days soaking in the rain, he thinks of what it would be like if he tells Kakashi of his plan.

-

Shadows are comforting and they act as familiar territory for Obito now. He understands their language and uses it to his advantage. But Obito is far from foolish, and he recognizes that there are others who speak this language just as well as he does. So he doesn’t dare make any drastic movements that could cause even the slightest rip in his plan and simply analyzes. If Zetsu notices him spending a bit more time outside of Ame than before he doesn’t comment on it. 

Kakashi is so damn perplexing. Even while on team Minato, Obito noted he held himself a bit differently than their classmates. Always the one to slip into the shadows and lock himself up so tight. Maybe it's the fact that Obito now lives inside darkness, that he now has experience with the horrors of death and the red hell that carved itself onto his skin, that he is able to see it so much clearer in Kakashi. Maybe it’s their shared eye, Obito muses. 

Either way, the guilt crushing Kakashi and weighing the lonely man down more and more everyday is so obvious that Obito is sure something will snap soon. If his more-than-casual visits add to the tension that pulls on Kakashi’s shoulders then so be it. He keeps watching.

-

The anniversary of Rin’s death is hard and Obito isn’t sure if it will ever get easier. Nagato and Konan never question his absence on the day and although he doubts it would ever be brought up in conversation he silently thanks them for it. He chooses to spend his hours in Konoha. For some reason, the cursed day is always sunny. Every year without fail the sun rises in a beautiful display of colors and sets with so much vibrancy that Obito’s eyes burn. No rain. Konoha does not weep for her anymore. To the world, Rin is just another name on a stone that so many will never know about. It’s the only day the blood in his veins finally comes to life, he actually feels, and boils in undiluted anger. Obito knows how deeply the Uchiha love and memories of Madara’s words detailing their accursed bloodline rattle through his mind. His sharingan stays on and smears the day into his mind. Obito wants to haze everything to the ground and rebuild it his way.

When he returns to Ame, the rain cloaks him. He hates it. 

-

The day is not special. The weather is average, nobody has died, and no plans have gone askew. Zetsu is not around so Obito takes the day for himself and scours the Land of Hot Water. The whole population is spread out rather sparsely and relies on tourism to keep itself afloat, and he goes from town to town to collect any type of information he can stumble on. With a little extra spending and an expression of curiosity in local history on his part, people tend to be forthcoming with any information Obito questions them about. 

As he travels, Obito discovers the names of every Inn worker, learns that taking a left turn after passing the clothing store leads to a blacksmith’s shop, and a tale of how the mayor’s rebellious daughter attempted to pull a prank to dye the clear fountain water a horrendous shade of green ended up failing and resulted in a tiny crack forming at the base. When he asks about any oddities in the area lately, a gentle but stern older woman sitting across from him mentions that a man in striking magenta clothes had passed through not too long ago. She mentions seeing a kunai attached to his belt that curved in a way she had never seen before. As the night progresses and younger people on vacation looking to make memories and drink themselves stupid began piling in, the lady leans down near him and tells him one piece of information before heading out the door.

“I can tell you have some type of history with combat. I’m not the type to pry and don’t intend to insert myself in any business that isn’t mine, but the man I mentioned earlier probably is not someone you’re looking to get tangled up with. I’ve never seen someone have such an abundance of chakra like that.”

And then she left with a laugh. Shinobi are guarded with their knowledge and Obito likes the days he can simply talk with people to get the information he needs. Names aren’t always exchanged in large pubs and fake ones are never questioned. A small smirk slid onto his face. If Zetsu’s descriptions were correct, Obito just acquired intel on the container of the four tails.

-

Obito felt a spike in chakra as he exited the bar. Nothing too noticeable, and most people wouldn’t have even sensed it but Obito wasn’t most people. He latched onto the signature quickly and felt something stir within him. What a stroke of luck that it was Kakashi. Maybe the world really didn’t hate him as much as he assumed. 

Obito did what he does best. He watched. Seeing Kakashi get so worked up and twitchy simply because of a small tourist town in the Land of Hot Water was amusing to say the least. He wasn’t worried for Kakashi, there was no reason to be, but his good mood and lack of Zetsu whispering in his ear had him making a decision based on something he alone had thought about countless times. 

In complete honesty, dropping into Kakashi’s room was easier than he expected. The village must be running him into the ground, Obito mused. The sleeping man in front of him looked like shit. Even so, Obito knows Kakashi and how capable he is. After taking the only seat open in the room and releasing his henge from the bar, he flared his chakra to make his presence known. Watching Kakashi jolt awake and narrow his eyes at him—the same way Minato once did—did not anger him the way he was assuming it would. With his mask on, there was no way for Kakashi to discern who he was.

“Do you really want to remain in this hell forever?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is unbetad so I hope there wasnt too many mistakes. I dislike when characters are very OOC and my goal is to keep Kakashi in character while having his path diverge from canon a decent bit. He's going to confused with himself for a while lol. I know the first chapter was rather short and this isn't too much longer, but hopefully they will be longer in the future hah. Thanks so much for the feedback! Right now I have no set update schedule but im just happy to be finally writing something :D

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic, but I have plans for it! I just wanted to get this out there because I have so many Kakashi ideas and he fascinates me a lot. I wanted to play with the idea of Obito reaching out to him while he was in anbu. comments/kudos are greatly appreciated :’)


End file.
